Herbert Matthews’ ghost seems to be prowling the editorial rooms of the New York Times. How else to explain the editorial this morning calling for an end to America’s embargo of Cuba and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the communist regime on the island? Matthews was the Times’ correspondent who broke the story that Fidel Castro was, despite the assurances of the president, Fulgencio Batista, alive and leading a revolutionary army. The Timesman had been smuggled up into the Sierra Maestra mountains and given an interview with the future communist dictator, and was the tyrant’s apologist ever since.

The Times wants to placate this poltergeist before the devil lights Castro’s last cigar.* It starts by acknowledging the “dismal state of troubled bilateral relationships” that the Obama administration “has sought to turn around.” It then tries to assert that President Obama “would be smart to take a hard look at Cuba, where a major policy shift could yield a significant foreign policy success.” Let us acknowledge other possibilities: Maybe, say, the Times didn’t really intend to suggest something so ridiculous but suddenly got the frights when the Shade of Mr. Matthews just appeared through the wall.